Cigar piercing machine



July 29, 1941. w, ALM 2,250,452

CIGAR PIER GING MACHINE Fild June 10, 1936 s Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTORNEY July 29, 1941. T. w. ALM

CIGAR PIERCING MACHINE Filed June 10, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR B JM 46 W Y W; ATTORNEY Patented July 29, 1941 CIGAR PIERCING MACHINE UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE;

Thure Alm, Stewart Manor, Long Island,

N. Y., assignor to International Cigar Machinery Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application June 10, 1936, Serial No. 84,408

21 Claims. (01. 131-255) This invention relates to cigar machines, and more particularly to improved machines for piercing the ends of cigars to obviate the necessity for a smoker biting or cutting off the end prior to smoking, and also, to provide an additional draft in each cigar pierced.

While cigar piercing is not new in the art, the existing devices have had many disadvantages which applicant has overcome. It has been found that when fresh cigars are pierced by reciprocating, or rotary and reciprocating needles, there is a tendency for the pierced hole to fill up and close after withdrawal of the piercing means. Where cigars have dried out and are similarly treated large numbers are split and destroyed by the piercing members and rendered unsaleable. Insofar as hollow or tubular piercers or drills have been used, only simple manual devices such as carried by individual smokers or located on store counters have been available. Also, due to the construction of these devices it has been extremely diflicult to properly center cigars, with the result that the danger of destroying the fragile ends of cigars was always present during the piercing or drilling operations. Also, in existin form of piercers, no means has been provided for removing from the opening any scrap or dust tobacco that may have been present or formed therein by the piercer. Obviously, this would result in considerable annoyance when the smoker in n smoking his cigar would take these small particles into his mouth.

According to this invention, these disadvantages are overcome since means are provided for properly centering and locating cigars to. be pierced and means for piercing a single cigar or a plurality at the same time. Also, means are provided for removing scrap and dust tobacco from the interior of the cigar after the piercing operation, thereby leaving each cigar with a rounded, clean pierced opening, and an unbroken end.

It is therefore the main object of this invention to provide a cigar piercing machine which will more effectively pierce cigars than any device heretofore known.

It is a further object to provide a plurality of devices for simultaneously piercing a plurality of cigars.

It is an additional object to provide piercing devices for piercing a plurality of cigars simultaneously and to furnish means for cleaning said devices of all scrap and dust tobacco following the piercing operation.

It is a further purpose of this invention to furnish a device with a single or a plurality of piercers for piercing the ends of cigars without damaging them, means for cleaning the piercers following the piercing operation, and means for removing from the interior of pierced cigars dust and scrap tobacco produced by the piercers.

It is an additional object to provide a pluralityof rotary, tubular drills adapted to be moved in unison into a plurality of aligned cigars for piercing the ends thereof simultaneously.

A further object is to provide positioning and centering devices for properly positioning cigars to be pierced so that the piercers enter theer'ids of cigars on the exact center line thereof, without fracturing said ends during this operation.

An additional object is to furnish movable positioning members which are provided with associated means for forcing a gaseous fluid blast out of bores formed in said members to'expel scrap and dust tobacco from the interiors ofcigars or similar articles.

It is a further object to provide a plurality of individual resiliently mounted positioning membars for moving cigars into'piercing position, in which said members are capable of positioning cigars which may vary somewhat in length.

With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in View, the invention consists in cer'- tain steps and constructions which will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically;

Fig. 5, is a perspective view .of one of the hol-'- low drills shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, end frames 6 and 1, held together by tie bars 8, 8' and tie bolts'9, 9, 9-", carry a cam shaft Iii, a fulcrum shaft H, and support a top plate I2 and a frame E3, the former supporting a table M for the cigars to be pierced and a channel l5 for the pierced cigars, while the.

latter carries the piercing mechanism I 5 which occupies the space between the table M and the channel [5 and is arranged to simultaneously operate on a number of cigars.

Cross bars ll held by the end frames 6 and 1 support a motor I8 which by a belt l9 drives a pulley 20 on a sleeve 2| of a shaft 22 journaled in.

a lug 23 of end frame 1 and in a gear housing 24 attached to frame 1. To the pulley 26 is attached a pulley 25 driving, by a belt 26, a pulley 21 on a countershaft 28 supported by a bearing 29 attached to tie bar 8 and by a block 30 fastened to frame I3. Sleeve 2| also carries one members 3I of a clutch the other member 32 of which is movable against a spring 33 by a fork lever 34, on a key 35 of shaft 22. The lever 34 is fulcrumed on 2. lug 36 of gear housing 24 and is operated through a connecting rod 31, a bell crank leverv 38 pivoted on a bracket 39 attached to housing 24,

a connecting rod 40, lever 4| pivoted on shaft II,

and through a link 42, by a treadle 43 mounted on tie bolt 9'. Within the housing 24 the shaft 22 carries a worm 44 meshing with a worm-wheel 45 on cam shaft III on which are mounted two cams 46 and 41 engaging with rollers 48'and 49 carried by levers 56 and 5|, respectively. The levers 58 and 5| are fulcrumed on shaft II and are held against their cams by springs '52 and '53 anchored to a bar 54 attached to bearing 29. On the cam shaft I is also mounted an arm 55 engageable with a collar 56 on the piston rod'51 of a pump 58 of suitable design, attached to end frame 6, so that the said piston rod is pulled out against a spring 59 once in every revolution of cam shaft I0, this spring, upon the passage of arm 55, pushing the pistonrod 51 inward and causing a puff of air to issue from the pump. Collar 56 is adjustably mounted upon rod 51 so that the amount of air necessary to remove scrap and dust from pierced cigars may be definitely controlled.

The piercing mechanism, Figs. 3, 4 and 5, consists 'of a slidable cigar positioning block 60 containing a number of resiliently mounted plungers H, of a stationary centering block 62 containing an equal number of coaxial centering rings 63, and of a slidable holder I6 carrying a number of hollow drills 64. The members I6, 60 and 62 are mounted upon a pair of guide rods 65 fast in the end-walls of frame I3, the stationary member 62 being held thereon by set screws 66 while the slidable members I6 and 60 are equipped with bushings 61. The block 60 is actuated bylever through an adjustable connecting rod 68, and the holder I6 by lever 5| through a link 69. The positioning plungers 6|, which are hollow, may be provided with cupped faces and are held in their outermost position against their fastening collars by springs 1I. Enclosing the collars 10, a casing 12 is fastened to block 66 and connected by a flexible pipe 13 to the outlet of pump 58.

The hollow drills 64 carry fixed gear wheels 14 which intermesh with one another and hold the drills in position in the holder I6. The middle drill 64' is connected by a coupling to a hollow shaft 16 slidable in the block 30 and driven by a pulley 11 connected by a belt 18 with a pulley 19 on countershaft 28. The shaft 16 has a long keyway 80 which engages with a key 8| in pulley 11, thus driving the drills 64 in any position of slide I6. Each of the hollow drills 64 rides on a stationary pin 82 of such length as to protrude a short distance from the working end of the drill in its non-operative position, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3. Thus, when receding from their operating position shown in dotted lines, the drills are automatically cleaned of scrap and dust remaining in their bores. The pins 82 are held in place by clamps 83 attached to the right-hand end wall I3 of frame I3, the pin 82 for the middle drill 64, which is long enough to pass through the drive shaft 16, being held by a clamp 83' on a bracket 84 attached to block 30. The hollow drills 64 which are revolved at a comparatively high rate of speed, are provided with sharpened cutting edges 85, Fig. 5, so that they enter the cigars easily without tearing the wrapper, thereby keeping spoilage down to a minimum.

While being pierced, the cigars rest on grooved guides 86 supported by a stand 81 attached to frame I3. The scrap removed by the pins 82 falls into a chute 88 attached to the base of frame I3 and is by the latter delivered into containers 89 slidably held below the ends of chute 88 by rails 90 attached to the under side of top plate I2.

In the manipulation of this machine, the operator, seated at the machine (facing Fig. 2), with her left hand takes the required number of cigars Cfive in the illustration shown-from the supply on table I 4 and rolls the same into the grooves of the guides 86 while with her right hand she transfers the cigars 0' just pierced into the delivery channel I5, as shown by arrows in Fig. 2. She then releases the treadle 43, whereupon the cam 46 first causes the lever50 to advance the positioning block 60 into the dotted position 60' shown in Fig. 3, thereby causing the plungersGI' to push the heads of the cigars C into the centering rings 63, and then the cam 41 through lever 5I moves the holder I6 into the dotted position I6 causing the drills 64 to pass through the centering rings 63 and to penetrate into the cigars to the desired distance. The continued action of the cam 41 then moves the holder I6 back into starting position, thereby withdrawing the piercing drills, which are cleaned out by sliding along the pins 82. Upon the withdrawal of the drills, the engagement of the arm 55 with the collar 56 on piston rod 51 causes the pump 58 to send a puff of air by way of pipe 13 and chamber 12 through the hollow plungers 6I into the cigars 0, thereby removing scrap and dust produced by the piercers. The action of cam 46 on the lever 50 finally restores the block 60 into its starting position, thereby releasing the pierced cigars, which are then transferred by the operator to the delivery channel I5, while simultaneously forwarding a new lot from table I4 into the vacated spaces.

While one particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the machine without departing from the spirit of the invention, the scope of which may be determined from the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for piercing cigars, a support for a plurality of cigars, a plurality of movable resiliently mounted positioning plungers mounted adjacent one end of said support, a plurality of rotary piercing members'located adjacent the head ends of said cigars, means for moving said plungers to position said cigars for piercing, and means for moving said members relative to said cigars for piercing the head ends thereof.

2. In a device for piercing the heads of cigars, means for supporting a plurality of cigars, a plurality of rotary piercing members, a plurality of movably mounted positioning plungers, means for moving said plungers to position said cigars adjacent said members, means for moving said members relative to said cigars to pierce the heads thereof, and mechanism for removing dust and scrap tobacco from said cigars following the piercing operation.

3. In a device for piercing the heads of cigars, means for supporting a plurality of cigars, a plurality of rotary piercingmembers, a plurality of movably mounted positioning plungers, means for moving said plungers to position said cigars adjacent said members, means for moving said members relative to said'cigars to pierce the heads thereof, and mechanism for removing dust and scrap tobacco from said cigars following the piercing operatiomsaid mechanism comprising intermittently operating pneumatic means for forcing a gaseous fluid through said cigar.

4. In a device for piercing the heads of cigars, means for supporting a plurality of cigars, a pluralityof-rotary piercing members, a plurality of movably mounted positioning plungers; means for moving said plungers to position said cigars adjacent said members, means for moving said members relative to said cigars to pierce the heads thereof, and mechanism for removing dust and scrap tobacco from said cigars following-the piercing operation, said mechanism comprising a housing surrounding said positioning plungers, a pump, and means for operating said pump in timed relation to said piercing members for ejecting said dust and scrap from said cigars.

5. A cigar piercer comprising a support for cigars to be pierced, a cigar head centering device positioned adjacent one end of said support, and a movable positioning member located at the other end of said support and adapted to move cigars into contact with said device prior to the piercing operation.

6. A cigar piercer comprising a support for cigars to be pierced, a cigar head centering device positioned adjacent one end of said support, a movable positioning member located at the other end or" said support and adapted to move cigars into contact with said device, a rotary piercer adapted to pierce the head end of a positioned cigar, and means for moving said piercer into operative contact with said cigar.

7. A cigar piercer comprising a support for cigars to be pierced, a cigar head centering device positioned adjacent one end of said support, a movable positioning member located at the other end of said support and adapted to move cigars into contact with said device, a rotary piercer adapted to pierce the head end of a positioned cigar, and means for removing waste tobacco and dust from said piercer upon its withdrawal from said cigar.

8. In a cigar piercing machine, the combination with a table provided with a plurality of supports for cigars to be pierced, a plurality of centering devices, means for moving cigars positioned in said supports into operative relationship with said devices to center the same for piercing, a plurality of rotary drills simultaneously operating upon cigars in said support, means for rotating said drills, and means for expelling dust and scrap tobacco from said cigars following the simultaneous operation of the several drills.

9. In a cigar piercing mechanism, a support for a cigar to be pierced, a movably mounted rotary piercing device, a cigar end locating member, a movable positioning element adapted to contact with .an end of said cigar and move the other end into said member, and means for moving said device and element in timed relation relative to said cigar to locate and pierce the same.

10. A cigar end piercing mechanism comprising a support for a cigar to be pierced, a movably mounted rotary tubular piercer constructed and arranged to move axially with respect to cigars to be pierced, a stationary stripper rod positioned within said piercer, means for rotating said piercer, andzmechanism for imparting relative movementto said cigar and piercer whereby said piercer moves into operative relation with the end to be pierced, saidmechanism withdrawingsaid piercer at the end of the piercing opera-. tion whereupon the rod removes any scrap and dust from the interior thereof.

11. A cigar piercing machine comprising,

means for supporting cigars to be pierced, a locating device for locating the endsof cigars properly for pierci-ng,positioning members, each being individually resiliently mounted for moving cigars relative to said suppor'ting means into contact with said device, whereby the axes of said cigars are in line with-the axes of the piercers, a plurality of rotary piercers, and means to impart relative movement to said piercers and cigars for bringing said piercers into operative relation with the cigars for piercing the ends thereof, 12. A cigar piercing machine comprising, means for supporting cigars to be pierced, a loeating device for locating the ends of cigars proper ly iorpiercing, positioning-members, each being individually resiliently -mountedfor moving cigars relative to said supporting means into contact with said device, whereby the axes of said cigars are in line with the axes of the piercers, each of said members being provided with a hollow bore and a casing surrounding one end of each of said members, a plurality of rotary piercers, means to impart relative movement to said piercers and cigars for bringing said piercers into operative relation with the cigars for piercing the ends thereof, and means to force a gaseous fluid through said casing and bores into each pierced cigar to remove therefrom any scrap and dust tobacco.

13. In a cigar piercing machine, the combination with means for supporting cigars to be pierced, of a stationary bar provided with a plurality of cigar end centering devices, a, slide located adjacent the other end of said cigars, means carried by said slide for positioning said cigars in said devices, a slide carrying a plurality of piercing members, and means for imparting relative movement relative to said cigars and members for piercing the ends of said cigars.

14. In a cigar piercing machine, the combination with means for supporting cigars to be pierced, of a stationary bar provided with a plurality of cigar end centering devices, a slide located adjacent the other end of said cigars, means carried by said slide for positioning said cigars in said devices, a slide carrying a plurality of rotary piercing members, and means for imparting relative movement relative to said cigars and members for piercing the ends of said cigars.

15. In a device for piercing cigars, a support, a movable member, a plurality of hollow piercing devices carried by said member and movable therein, means for moving said devices into piercing position with respect to cigars to be pierced, and stripper means mounted on said support cooperating with said devices to strip the entire interior operative portion of said devices and remove therefrom dust and scrap tobacco retained thereby, during withdrawal of said devices from pierced cigars.

16. A cigar piercing device comprising a movable member, a plurality of rotary, tubular drills carried therein, means for simultaneously rotating said drills, stripper mechanism associated with said drills and adapted to remove therefrom scrap and dust tobacco, and means for moving said member and said drills into and out of operative position with respect to cigars to be pierced.

17. A cigar piercer unit comprising a stationary support, an axially movable member, a rotary, tubular drill carried by said member, a stationary ejecting rod mounted upon said support and projecting through said drill, and mechanism for rotating and moving said drill longitudinally relative to said rod for piercing a cigar end, and to retract said drill whereby said rod ejects from said drill scrap and dust tobacco.

18. A cigar positioning device comprising a slide, a plurality of individually mounted resilient members carried thereby and provided with cupped positioning faces and hollow bores, a casing covering one end of said members, means for forcing a gaseous scrap and dust tobacco ejecting fluid through said casing and bores, and means for mOVing said slide to and from positioning location.

19. In a machine for handling elongated tobacco articles, the combination with a support, of means for positioning articles upon said support, said means comprising a movable element, a positioning device mounted upon said element and provided with a bore, a casing covering the fixed end of said device, and means for forcing a gas eous medium from said casing and bore and into articles positioned on said support to remove from the interiors thereof scrap and dust tobacco.

20. In a machine for handling elongated tobacco articles, the combination with a support, of means for positioning articles upon said support, said means comprising a movable element, a positioning device resiliently mounted upon said element and provided with a bore, a casing covering the fixed end of said device, and means for forcing a gaseous medium from said casing and bore and into articles positioned on said support to remove from the interiors thereof scrap and dust tobacco.

21. In a cigar piercing machine, the combination with a table provided with a plurality of supports for cigars to be pierced, a plurality of centering devices, means for moving cigars positioned in said supports into operative relationship with said devices to center the same for piercing, a plurality of rotary drills simultaneously operating upon cigars in said support, means for rotating said drills, and means for expelling dust and scrap tobacco from said drills.

THURE W. ALM. 

